Oxford Scene 2

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Oxford Scene 2

Stephen explores the ancient city of Oxford and meets some girls who are studying at the University.

Do the Preparation task first. Then watch the video. Next go to Task and do the activity. If you need help, you can read the Transcript at any time.

Preparation

Before you watch

While Ashlie was doing her exam, Stephen decided to have a look around Oxford.

Where do you think he goes to find out more about Oxford?

He meets some students sitting by the river.

What do you think they talk about?

He decides to do something special for Ashlie.

What do you think he is going to do?

Now, watch the video and find out if you were right.

Transcript

Transcript

Stephen: While Ashlie’s in her exam, I’m going to have a look around Oxford. You probably know it’s famous for its university, but let’s find out a little bit more.

.....

Stephen: Hello.

Tourist lady: Hello.

Stephen: Er, I’m visiting Oxford for the day, what’s the best thing to do?

Tourist lady: Well it’s a lovely day. I suggest you walk around the colleges, take a bus tour, explore the Bodleian Library or take a punt on the river with a picnic.

Stephen: How many colleges are there?

Tourist lady: There’s around 39.

Stephen: What’s the best way to see Oxford?

Tourist lady: The best way to see Oxford is probably on foot with one of our green and blue badge guides.

Stephen: Great. Thank you so much.

Tourist lady: You’re welcome.

Stephen: Bye.

Tourist lady: Bye.

.....

Stephen: Hiya girls. You alright?

Students: Good, thank you.

Stephen: Are you students here?

Students: Yes

Stephen: What are you studying?

Student 1: History.

Student 2: Yeah History, too.

Stephen: What’s it like being a student here?

Students: It's great.

Student 2: Really good.

Student 1: It’s, like, the best university known worldwide so it’s a great place to be.

Stephen: So tell me what it’s like studying here in Oxford.

Student 1: We have lectures and seminars and then it’s your own time to go to the library and read your books and do your research for the next lecture so if you don’t do that reading, then you’re not prepared for the next lecture – so it’s really up to you to do your own work.

Language level

Comments

hello taecher. I've some questions.'so it's really up to you to do your own work' in this sentece I don't understand 'up'.how can I understand it? what does 'stuff' mean? 'when it's sunny and stuff it's beautiful'. 'go punting and stuff'.what does 'so fingers crossed' mean?and 'nice down here'?
thank you very much

No, that does not sound right. Punting is a way of moving the boat, while a picnic is something you would do out of the boat on the bank of the river. I can't imagine doing both at the same time, which is what your sentence would suggest!

Hi Teacher,
Thanks for your reply. That mean “ row a boat, then picnic on the river bank”. May I understand like this?
And what about the sentence “ take a bus tour”. Is this “ go tour by bus”?
Thank you so much
Best regards
Phuong Anh

Different individuals have different speech habits and sometimes certain words are used a lot by individuals. The language on LearnEnglish is as authentic as possible so you will hear different ways of speaking from different people.

Good morning everyone I really like to visit New cities and to discover new places but when I have decided to og and visite a city I try to have a look on the internet to discover something about about that place about what we will do when we'll be there.And when I arrive in that city I try to find a map, first time and if I found the tourist information office I try to spoke with them to ask what's the best thing to do in that City.
But most of the time I go myself guided with the map and did the things that I decided to do before to get there,many of the time I tried to visit the most important things at the beginning and after that if I have more time I try to visit the rest.
Talking about how to impress to someone and how to make it a surprise for someone now it dependes on the situation if is a birthday I tried to give the right present, if is a treat or to say thank you to one of the member of the family or to one of my friends I don't know exactly what I'll do but I think they're many of possibility to do. Maybe to go somewhere nice to buy a nice thing to go sightseeing ,go to a nice restaurant or maybe to buy you a nice thing that you can use in the house or you can buy item of clothes or maybe that person really want to have something and you known already that and if she doesn't and he doesn't find that stuff you can go and find it . Or maybe find that item to buy it for them I don't know and in the same time you can find a really good information before that person I don't know I think that's lovely to say thank you to a person